South Korea about to issue new tender for long-delayed E-X aircraft programme
South Korea will next week hand Boeing and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) a new tender for the purchase of four airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. A contract for Boeing 737s with Northrop Grumman Mesa radars or Gulfstream G550s with Elta Phalcon radars is expected by year-end, ending a decade of delays to Seoul’s E-X programme.
South Korea’s ministry of national defence (MND) says it has not significantly altered the requirement compared with a tender issued last year but withdrawn after the Phalcon radar failed a test and evaluation (T&E) phase. But the ministry says it has added a procedure that “allows the programme to continue even if only one system meets the requirement upon completion of T&E and negotiations and thus competition is not possible”.
Industry sources say the new procedure should appease Boeing, which unsuccessfully tried to convince Seoul that it should be awarded a sole-source contract because the IAI solution failed the T&E phase. Sources say Boeing remains strong favourite for the contract, but IAI is confident the G550 will meet the requirement.
Other AEW&C system suppliers, including Embraer, plan to review the request for proposals after it is released on 14 July. However, sources expect only IAI, with partner L-3 Communications, and Boeing will submit bids because regional aircraft solutions are unlikely to meet the requirement.
This will be the fourth AEW&C tender released by South Korea since the mid-1990s, but Boeing and IAI are confident a contract will be awarded this time.
BRENDAN SOBIE / SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
